Vineyard Friends
At the age of 21, I attended John Wimber's 'Signs and Wonders' conference at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster. It was a life-changing event. The worship, teaching and evidence of God's power were simply extraordinary and I had never witnessed anything quite like it before.
Since then, the ministry of The Vineyard network of churches has continued to shape and influence me, mainly through our friendship with Steve and Cindy Nicholson from Evanston, Chicago, but also through Rich Nathan from Columbus, Ohio, John and Eleanor Mumford and John and Debby Wright from the UK. Therefore it was a great joy to be representing Newfrontiers at John and Debby Wright's commissioning and celebration service last weekend, as they take over the leadership of Vineyard UK and Ireland from the Mumfords. Whilst very distinct in their values, philosophy and style, the honouring of John and Eleanor during the service reminded me of Newfrontiers' own handover from Terry and Wendy Virgo just over four years ago. Of all the networks based in the UK, Vineyard has much in common with Newfrontiers' own core values. The commissioning service was preceded by a lunch during which Deb and I found ourselves sat next to Bishop David Pytches and Mike Pilavachi - a real privilege and very entertaining!
This week I am attending a leadership conference hosted in Portugal before returning to London late Friday evening. I am looking forward to launching our new series 'Follow Me' at our baptism services on Sunday.
Steve
